Text: Isaiah 40:1
I perceive strongly that this Convention is a double feast because the High Priest is coming with a double operation. This double operation is a feast of both Christ and God. The day of God that we are coming into is the day of the judgment of the accuser of the brethren. This accuser is the one preventing that day from coming. This accusation exists in different levels although they all stream from the same source. The company he accuses is called ‘brethren’. These brethren are the brothers of Christ who are going through training for glory.
Although the company of the brethren is being accused, the High Priest is not ashamed of them (Heb. 2:11). This is because they are undergoing sanctification. A time and hour will come when this warfare will be accomplished and they will embody the tidings of God’s day. The High Priest is mindful of everyone and will reach out to everyone at their respective levels.
The comfort that Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 40 is for those who have dwelt in the wilderness. The tidings of Christ is the preparatory ground for the land of promise (which is God). The essence of the wilderness is for training. It is a place of intense scrutiny. Some of those training looked contradictory because some thought they had been abandoned by the Lord because of how they felt in such seasons. The reason we have to go through those things is for the day of God. The comfort that God’s day brings is the breaking of ancient strongholds of the soul held by unseen powers; not the acquisition of material things we might have been deprived of in past seasons. The comfort of God’s day is salvation. This salvation is the end of our faith (1 Pet. 1:9). This is because it is expected that faith must have done some work in us that will bring us into the day of God.
The inheritance we are promised is among those who are sanctified by the faith that is in Christ. It is thus clear that without having gone through sanctification, there is no inheritance. The inheritance of God’s Israel is the consolation and comfort. It is in sanctification that things hostile to God within us are removed and taken away. This process precedes the New Birth. We must understand that we still have things that constitute enmity towards God at New Birth. For instance, in the epistle of Paul to the saints at Corinth, he told them they were carnal. In Romans 8, he said ‘the carnal mind is enmity against God’ (Rom. 8:7).
God will not give the inheritance to any soul that can still rebel against Him. The place for the removal of things that constitute enmity towards God are removed in the school of Christ. The tidings of Christ is to sanctify and purify us for the sake of the inheritance. As a company of people, we have gone through things and endured disciplines that come in our day to day life experiences. It is in the wilderness that hearts are tested and tried (Deut. 8:1-4).
Men who are in this state often go through a lot of perplexity. The dealings of the wilderness is such that makes many men question their faith. It is a place where there is no physical validation of that which God is doing. Oftentimes, ministers who teach Christ come into this season and are often spoken against by other men for exalting the preaching of Christ above the preaching of signs and wonders.
The day of God is coming, dawning and bringing comfort to everyone who has attained Christ stature but is still in the wilderness. The end of the faith that brings sanctification to our souls is salvation. This salvation is the breaking of the soul into the day of God. God is bringing comfort to Zion. Except a man is called and chosen, when he comes into the wilderness of Christ, he will pull back after the process of rearrangement of the Spirit. This is why the wilderness (that Christ is) is called a solitary place. God is turning this wilderness around into fruitfulness.
Part of the things that come with the training of Christ is feeble knees and weak hands. They will receive strength because in the day of God, nothing except Him (God) will be found. The salvation, which God is giving us in this season, is salvation to the uttermost. It is what will make us into entities that are impossible to turn against God. God is declaring comfort to all who have endured the training to this particular hour. God is called the God of all comfort by Paul (2 Cor. 1:3-7). When comfort is being declared in a day, what is being declared is God. After God might have comforted us, we will become comfort for nations. The days ahead of us are glorious. Days are coming, after God must have judged the idols of nations, when men will become more precious than gold.
We cannot be participants of glory if we had not participated in sufferings. Some believers in the Christ curriculum have endured being misunderstood, among other things. In this season, they will be consoled. The consolation for Zion is not money; it is salvation because money can and will fail. The tidings of God’s day is for the entire body of Christ and humanity. This notwithstanding, a company of people will have to be separated for going through the training ahead of others. This is necessary for them to become the saviours that will arise on Mount Zion (Obadiah 21). It is only those who have gone through training and received salvation that qualify to become saviours.
In this Convention, God will empower the ministers against the intimidation from the realm of darkness with respect to declaring the tidings of God’s day. They will be strong and not be afraid to declare. Zion churches who have held the doctrine of Christ are the true kingdom communities. The day of salvation is breaking upon us, bringing comfort to Zion.